kind of snarky title -- but I find myself rooting for them. Not a fan of the Chradley Friggins duo - and I think if they both ride, neither will win (team divided and all that)....nor do I think Quintana has the stones to make it safely over the stones. (if he did tho, watch out!) So Rodriguez/Valverde? -- II'm loosing faith that they can make it onto the top step. Contador? he may still have some fire in his belly but not sure he can match the best climbers anymore.
So Andy and Frank? kind of would love to see them take it to the "favorites." The route has only one TT -- thats good. I Didnt realze that Andy is still only 28 yrs old. Should be plenty able to reach some seriously good form. And oh yeah there's a certain multiple P-R winner on his team who might be of some help on the pave....

That is a course tailor-made for Froome. No one could drop him in the mountains last year and he torched everyone in the TT's. Any small time he loses in the mountains he can easily gain back in the final TT.

I see Nibali as the biggest challenger. Has the classics experience to survive the first week, can climb with the best and TT reasonably well.

Not close to being sold on Quintana yet....too young and a one-trick pony.

With so little time trialing and some many mountains isn't this tailor made for our latest grand tour winner---Chris Horner. Now that the route is out teams will be lining up hand -over -fist to sign this all but certain winner for the 2014 TdF. (for those in doubt, yes there is a bit of sarcasm implied in this post)

The funny thing is that I was thiking Andy could be a dark horse for next year. The guy clearly has the engine and coming off of the alst 2 years, I think many have written him off. And it is a course that would suit his capabilities.....but then I saw this quote:

"On Sunday if the sun is out I will start the first kilometre in preparation for next year. I will give it full throttle."

Never has a single quote so aptly summarized an individual...."if the sun is out"?!?!?!!? Winning the tour means getting your a$$ out there everyday, slogging through the miles, no matter what the conditions are. And yes, that also means riding your TT bike, Andy.

Andy is a joke, bot of the Shlep boys for that matter. I love the quote on one site"omeback for the Schlecks" don't you have to ACTUALLY win something to make it a comeback?I wonder how long it has been since Andy has actually seen his TT bike, let alone RIDDEN it